Conference Call: Lions DE Kyle Vanden Bosch

It’ll be strange, definitely. I was there five years, and I don’t even think I’ve been in the visitors’ locker room. It’ll be different. Still a lot of familiar faces there. It will be important for me just to make it a business trip. It’ll be good. Nashville—it’ll still feel like home to me.

It’ll be good. There’s definitely a familiarity. I’ve practiced against both of those guys a ton. I don’t know that it gives me an advantage or them an advantage. There’s definitely some familiarity there.

(on if he thinks Michael Roos has struggled so far this year)

I definitely don’t think he’s struggled. To me, he’s one of the better underrated tackles in the league up to this point. Regardless of what’s happened to them on offense, they’ve only given up two sacks in two games. This season and throughout his career, he’s been one of the better players at his position.

(on if he’s surprised that the Titans and Chris Johnson have struggled so far)

It does surprise me that they’ve struggled, especially Chris Johnson. I was on the sideline when he set and broke all kinds of records at running back. That’s the type of player I know he’s capable of being and the type of performance that we’re trying to prevent. He’s a special player and a unique athlete. What you can’t do is look at his stats and think of him as anything other than the guy he was and the guy he is capable of being.

(on if it’s emotional for him to face his former team)

Up to this point, no. To me, it’s been a normal Wednesday. It’s been a fairly quick turnaround coming from a Sunday night game. I’m sure it’ll probably be different when I get off the plane, and especially when I get to the field on Sunday. After years and years of preparing and getting ready for Sunday games, you try to keep things throughout the week as normal as you possibly can.

You can see why they drafted him. You can see he’s a good, young quarterback and can make all the throws. As a defensive lineman, the thing you worry about is he can run all over the field, he can scramble and he can hurt you with his legs. You can rush to a spot and you can try to get to where you think he’s going to be, but he can pull it down and not only run for first downs, but scramble and buy time for his receivers to get open.

(on if defenses typically like playing against a first-year starting quarterback)

It just depends who the guy is. Again, in spite of what they’ve done on offense, they haven’t taken many sacks. So I don’t know that you pin your ears back and say, let’s get after this guy and get some hits on him and try to get some sacks. We had to account for the fact that he has a good feel for where the rush is and he can buy time and move around.

(on what it’s like playing next to Ndamukong Suh)

He’s a unique and talented defensive tackle. He’s got a really good combination of size, strength, athleticism and balance. He’s really played well this year and throughout his career, but really we’ve got four guys inside that are all dynamic rushers and have gotten to the quarterback through two games. That’s what I like. Quarterbacks won’t be able to step up in the pocket and it will free things up for our ends.

(on how much of a factor it was having Jim Schwartz in Detroit when he decided to play there)

It was a big part of it. I knew coming here it was going to be a similar defense, same front that I’d been playing for five years and had some success in. I knew that the defense here, a lot like the defense when I played in Tennessee was going to be built around a defensive line, and I’d be able to continue to attack. That was a lot of it. Like you said, I had a lot of confidence in Coach Schwartz. I knew what he was a defensive coordinator, and I knew what he could do as a head coach. I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

(on if Jim Schwartz’s personality is different as head coach than as defensive coordinator)

No, not really. As a defensive coordinator, he was really smart. He prepared us really well. He was also a really good motivator. I think all of that serves him well as a head coach and serves this team well.

(on defensive tackle Nick Fairley’s progress)

He’s still a work in progress. Nick (Fairley) came in his rookie year and got about four practices into training camp and broke his foot. It was something he had to battle through. He had his ups and downs his rookie year, and then came in this offseason, and you could see why he was a first-round draft pick and you could see how special he can be. He can move really well for a guy his size and can run. He’s still developing. He can dominate and he shows flashes of dominance, but what we expect from him down the road and hopefully sooner than later, is dominance throughout the whole season.

(on if there are one or two things Nick Fairley needs to work on to get to that point)

He, throughout his college career, relied so much on instincts and trying to read things and just be a feel-type player. But in our scheme, it’s more attack and hit your spot on every play, and don’t try to read things. When he does that, he’s quick and explosive. He’s got long arms and he can be really disruptive when he attacks. When he tries to read things and see everything that’s going on, then he hesitates.

(on how often he has come back to Nashville)

A couple times every offseason. I was back a couple of months ago. I still have a bunch of really good people that I know back there. There will be a number of people that will come to the first Titans game since I left, people that will be in the stands that are Kyle Vanden Bosch fans. I had a really good relationship with the people of Nashville. There will always be a lot of people that will always be close to me from there.

(on if he’s learned to relax in practice yet)

To me, there’s only one way to prepare and there’s only one way to play. When I can’t do it that way, I’m doing myself and the game a disservice.

(on how long he was disappointed that the Titans didn’t make more of an effort to keep him)

All else equal, I would have loved to have stayed in Nashville. Like I said, I loved it there, it was a great place to live. The fans are awesome. I really liked the organization. There were no hard feelings when I left. I gave it as hard as I could for five years, and they paid me well for those five years. When it was time to go, I think both sides understood it was time for me to move on and it was time for them to move on. I honestly had no hard feelings about it.

(on if part of him wants to show the Titans on Sunday that they should have kept him longer)

No, I don’t think so. When my contract was up in Tennessee, the place for me to be was in Detroit. I came here with the intent of helping turn this team around, still in that process. I feel good about the steps we’re taking as a team, where we’re at right now and where were heading.

(on what it’s like to be reunited with Stephen Tulloch)

(Stephen) Tulloch has been great. As much as the scheme and the system there helped me in my career, Tulloch was built for what we do defensively here. He had a lot of success at Tennessee at the middle linebacker, and he’s doing the same thing here. He’s great with the huddle. People there know he’s a tackling machine. Anything that moves, he’s going to hit. He’s stepped in and become, in his short amount of time here, a good leader. He’s a captain. He’s the type of guy we need in the middle.

(on if he thinks that Tennessee was the right place for him after leaving the Cardinals)

Tennessee was the right place at the right time. I finally got healthy. I owe a lot of my success and the turnaround in my career to (defensive line) Coach (Jim) Washburn in Tennessee. I’ll always be grateful to him and how he helped me in my career.

(on defensive line coach Kris Kocurek)

If there’s anybody that is close to Coach (Jim) Washburn, it’s Coach (Kris) Kocurek. He coaches the same, has the same type of energy, believes in the same type of things. It’s all about effort and running to the ball and making plays all over the field and attacking. He’s a lot like Coach Washburn. I’ve been fortunate to play for, in my opinion, two of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL. He’s still a young coach. I say young, he’s two days older than me, so I see him as pretty young.